PNC Financial Services keeps a PNC Christmas Price Index® which “shows the current cost for one set of each of the gifts given in the song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.’”

ZH has just pointed out recent rises in the index:

Over the past 30 years, the rise in the price of Christmas according to PNC’s annual 12-days-of-Christmas price index has matched the CPI at around 2.9% YoY. However, in recent years, the reality is considerably worse…The price of Christmas in 2013 is up a stunning 7.7% over 2012 – the biggest jump since 2010′ 9.2% rise. The biggest driver of the increase were the dancing ladies…

This goes back to the question of whom we should believe about inflation: the government ‘hedonic’ (manipulated) statistics? Or the prices we would actually see, in buying stuff?

Lefties often say to me “But we’re not having inflation…where’s the inflation?” And I say, “Look at the stock market, which is like the price of your ever retiring. It has roughly doubled, since Obama took office. So has gasoline, or what you pay for college, medical insurance, etc. Even for consumer goods, packages are smaller and quality is down. The government counts only some of that, as inflation. But you know you’re struggling to make ends meet; your paycheck doesn’t go far. Why is that? Inflation is staring you in the face. Are you really not going to believe it, until the government says you can?”